Charity logo

DIASPORA DIALOGUES

Registered Name: DIASPORA DIALOGUES CHARITABLE SOCIETY

Business No: 834484271RR0001

Diaspora Dialogues (DD) supports diverse writers to turn their craft into a career.

DIASPORA DIALOGUES

Donate to this charity

frequency type
Donation amountThis field is required
500 characters remaining

Give in honour or send an ecard (optional)

about

Our Mission

Diaspora Dialogues (DD) supports diverse writers to turn their craft into a career through mentorship, professional development and opportunities to publish and present their work.

We are committed to fostering literature as richly varied as the communities in which we live. We believe that through reading a story, or sitting in a darkened theatre, Canadians can best appreciate the commonalities we have with others, while understanding how different cultural backgrounds affect and shape those commonalities.

 A successful community requires that everyone equally heard and valued; seeing one’s self truly represented in the pages, and on the stages of our country, has a profound impact on the sense of connection and inclusion we feel.

About DIASPORA DIALOGUES CHARITABLE SOCIETY

Diaspora Dialogues has been pairing unpublished writers with mentors such as Lawrence Hill and Cherie Dimaline since 2005. More than 700 writers and artists have become part of the DD community in the past thirteen years – as mentors or mentees, emerging playwrights or dramaturges, commissioned artists, readers or performers – and 400 new literary works have been created.

Our mentoring and playwrights-in-residence programs have the country’s highest success rate for alumni getting published or produced (70-100% depending on the program). Smash hits like Kim’s Convenience began life at DD; our alumni have also been nominated for, or won, many literary awards including the Governor General’s Literary Awards, and/or had their plays produced in Toronto, Shaw Festival, New York and London. We help newcomer, first- and second-generation immigrant writers connect to the larger writing community and publishing industry.

DD also presents professional quality, accessible and engaging public programming for Canadians in their local communities. More than 150,000 people have attended DD’s 200+ events since 2005, with our audiences as diverse as the artists we support. We have an ambitious goal to develop both artists and audiences, breaking down barriers – financial and psychological – to meaningful participation in cultural life, combatting social isolation.

Our new online magazine, TOK, publishes fiercely honest, freshly original writing from our cities, and from around the world. tokmagazine.ca

What people are saying

I was a participant of the Emerging Playwright Program and worked on my play, The Orchard (After Chekhov). Thank you so much for your generous support. This summer's Shaw Festival production - the first South Asian play Shaw has ever programmed - would not have been possible without DD.

Sarena Parmar

supporter wall

  • Sarah M donated $300.00!

    thank you for all the great work of DD! thinking of you all during Covid. All m...

  • fides k donated $50.00!

    Beautiful community building through rich artistic weave.

Showing 1 to 2 of 2 results
1

REGISTERED CHARITY ADDRESS

90A Shaftesbury Avenue

Toronto, ON, M4T 1A5

Visit our website